[00:00:00] Adam Walker: From Susan G. Komen, this is Real Pink, a podcast exploring real stories, struggles, and triumphs related to breast cancer. We’re taking the conversation from the doctor’s office to your living room
[00:00:16] Winnie Marquart, the 2026 honoree walk chair for the Susan G. Komen Wisconsin More Than Pink Walk, is a member of the SC Johnson family and a three-time breast cancer survivor. Her journey with breast cancer began at the age of 39 when she was completely shocked to find that her very first mammogram revealed she had breast cancer.
[00:00:39] Five years later, she discovered a lump in her armpit and learned that her cancer had returned. Then at age 59, she faced a third diagnosis, this time stage four metastatic breast cancer that had spread to her liver. Through 27 years of diagnoses, treatments, recurrences, and uncertainty, Winnie has also experienced something else, more time.
[00:01:02] Today she continues treatment with infusions every three weeks, and she credits advances in research and treatment with giving her more moments with the people she loves and more opportunities to make a difference. Winnie’s here to talk about what the 27 years have taught her about resilience, gratitude, advocacy, and hope, and why she believes no woman should have to delay potentially life-saving care because of cost.
[00:01:25] Winnie, welcome to the show.
[00:01:27] Winnie Marquart: Hi. Thank you.
[00:01:29] Adam Walker: Well it’s so good to talk. You’ve got such an interesting story so I’d like to start there, if you don’t mind. So you faced breast cancer three times. I mean, tell us a little bit about that journey.
[00:01:40] Winnie Marquart: It’s been hard, but this is my life.
[00:01:45] This is what I do. I go in for treatment, and it, as you said, gives me more time to be with my family. Just had the birth of my third grandchild a month ago. I mean, and without the medications that they have now, I wouldn’t be here today. So the, the journey’s been long. Lots of surprises because the last time was, I was 15 years out from my second recurrence, and I thought for sure I had beat it, that I was done with breast cancer, and it that, that one, that diagnosis was hard because it’s stage four.
[00:02:32] It’s metastatic. It’s can kill me, and but with the treatment that I get, I’m getting more time with my family.
[00:02:45] Adam Walker: Yeah, and that’s what ma- I mean, so congratulations on the third grandchild- … for, by the way. That-
[00:02:50] Winnie Marquart: And they named it little Winnie.
[00:02:51] Adam Walker: Oh!
[00:02:52] Winnie Marquart: So I have a little namesake.
[00:02:54] Adam Walker: Oh, wow, that’s amazing.
[00:02:56] That’s the dream right there. You, you- It is. It is … you’re, you- you’ve got the dream. Okay. So you’ve got a, a, a little Winnie. That’s amazing. I mean walk me through that for a minute. I mean I would imagine that getting a diagnosis o- on your first mammogram at 39 has gotta be…
[00:03:14] D- you, I mean, I’m sure you just hit the floor and I would assume the second diagnosis maybe is a little less shocking to some degree. But then I think the th- I would think the third one would be a- al- almost as shocking as the f- I mean, just walk, if you don’t mind, like, what was the emotional progression like for you across those three diagnoses?
[00:03:31] Winnie Marquart: The first one, I was so surprised. I mean, n- normally you don’t get a mammogram, really, your first mammogram until you’re 40, and I was very lucky to have great physicians, and m- my doctor, just as a precaution, I mean, it wasn’t something that he did with most of his patients when they were around my age, just to get a baseline.
[00:03:59] And when they found something, I mean, I’m 39. I mean, how can I get breast cancer? But of course they said, “Well, it’s very small. We’ll treat it. We’ll do a lumpectomy. We’ll…” back then they just took out some lymph nodes to see if they had, the cancer had spread, and those were all clear.
[00:04:23] I had then I went through radiation, and they said, “Look 98% of who are in your group are cured, and they’ll never have another recurrence.” And it I felt pretty good. I mean I thought, okay, this is great. We’ve caught it early. And it was almost five years to the day that I went in, I mean, had felt this Pain in my armpit, thinking, and thinking it was scar tissue from when they removed my lymph nodes.
[00:05:01] And it just, every time I moved my arm a certain way, I got this sharp pain. And I said, “Well, I guess I better…” I felt a little bit of a lump, but it was way far down. You had to dig. And my doctor said, ” because it’s there, we need an ultrasound or whatever is not going to tell us what we need to know, so we need to operate.”
[00:05:27] And they went in, and I was pretty hopeful that it was just scar tissue, and then I wake up to m- my husband was crying, my doctor was looking at me with this sad face, and he said, ” it’s cancer. It’s in your lymph nodes.” And I think that was more of a shock because I knew that meant chemotherapy.
[00:05:52] It meant that I had progressed a stage, and it, something that I hadn’t expected. My kids were still so young at that point, and I I was worried about them because the first time I could sort of hide it. They didn’t really know what was going on. This time, because I was gonna lose my hair and I was gonna have to go through these treatments, they needed to understand what was going on, and that w- that was hard.
[00:06:23] I mean they were young. They think cancer is deadly and that their mom is gonna die, and I worried for them more than I worried for myself, and I worried for my husband. I have four kids, so it was daunting to think that I would leave them. And and plus I wanted to see my girls get married.
[00:06:54] I wanted to see my, my son get married and have kids. And s- so I think that was the most difficult of them, that, is that the feeling that I wouldn’t see them grow up, and I that’s tough. So I had to be strong. I had to be confident. I had to give them hope. And then at the same time maybe about a few weeks later, my dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and I- I was shocked.
[00:07:38] I was Okay, so I’ve got my diagnoses, he has his,” then you bring in my mom. How is she gonna feel during this with me, a daughter, and a husband who’s dying, and the rest of my family? And I had it was it was really tough. And then with my kids after my father passed okay, is this gonna happen to my mom?
[00:08:11] I mean what do I do? I mean, my doctor always said, “Winnie, look, you have to have hope. You have to concern yourself with yourself and that’s str- you have to be strong during your treatment, and you can’t you can’t let yourself go down the path of, ‘Okay, he’s gonna die, I’m gonna die.’
[00:08:43] It’s it’s gonna affect the fa- the family at large.” But I’m not a person who likes people to do things for me. I always like to do things for myself and which helps because Mom, my mom wanted to come and be with me, and I said, “No, be with Dad. I’m fine. I’ve got my family here.”
[00:09:15] I was in Virginia. And, So I made it through that 18 months. I finished my chemo. My dad tried some things to delay the cancer, but he finally passed 18 months after his diagnosis. But then I thought, “Okay, I’ve got this.” Five years passed, I thought, “Okay, I made it past that point.”
[00:09:49] And so life went on. I mean, yes, I was l- living with cancer, but at that point I felt, “Okay, I’ve, I made it past five years, I’m good.” so I was a little slack on my doctor’s appointments at maybe at about 10 years out, I was… Would see my doctor every six months for blood tests.
[00:10:13] And I I’d go, “All right. Well, I’ll make the appointment and I’ll look at my calendar, and I’ll see you and I’ll call you.” Well, of course I never called. But I was happened to be, it was just so lucky, I happened to be serving sandwiches at the cancer center in Virginia to the cancer patients, and I ran into my oncologist.
[00:10:38] And he goes, “Winnie, you owe me an appointment and a blood test.” He goes, “Make the appointment.” And I did before I left. And I I went in and got a blood test and left on a trip the next afternoon, and, or next day, and he s- I said I’m fine. I’m I’m not worried about taking this trip or whatever.”
[00:11:02] And he called me that day after we had landed and said, “Winnie, you need to come home.” And I was like, “Really?” He goes, “Yeah. I don’t… You need to come home and we need to do more tests.” And then that scared me. I mean, that was the pit, this emptiness in your stomach. You’re like, “Oh my God, I’m going through this again after 15 years.
[00:11:35] How do I tell the kids? How do I… what do I do?” So I mean, we went back and back home, I got a PET scan and they found it. Well, they did all scans, brain scan, bone scan PET scan. My kids were on the way home and they said they found three tumors in my liver, which I knew. I mean that’s bad.
[00:12:09] That to me was– And it was the waiting for the kids to get the final diagnosis is it breast cancer in my liver or do I have liver cancer, which are two different things to worry about. And when I– when we found out it was breast cancer to my liver, that was a little bit more of a relief, and it wasn’t in my bones, which was really good, or my brain.
[00:12:43] So it– my kids were older, they were all away and living elsewhere. And it was tough. I mean, what do you say? They wanted to stay and go through everything with me, and I said, “You just– You know, you have to get on with your lives. I’ll check in. I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.
[00:13:12] I’ll be good. If anything changes I’ll let you know.” And they went crying not wanting to leave their mom, but they also have their lives school and work and all of that. So I couldn’t believe it. I was so shocked. Everybody was so shocked.
[00:13:40] But my doctor, who is the best doctor and the most compassionate, empathetic cancer doctor he goes, “Wini there are so many drugs out there that will– that are now there that weren’t there fifteen years ago that will help you through this.” And so I went through my chemo and at the end, the tumors were gone, which was awesome.
[00:14:14] By, like, week three, the tumors were getting smaller and smaller, which helped and largely to the drug Herceptin, which the Susan Komen Foundation helped fund to get it out there and passed through the FDA. I mean, that was… That’s the miracle drug that has helped me, and that’s what I get infused with every three weeks.
[00:14:44] So that drug is keeping me alive, and there’s also new drugs out there in trial that if this doesn’t, if this stops working, there’s something else, and that’s what I have to hold onto. Plus I’m seven years out. I’m hoping that I will You know, make it. I’ve seen three grandchildren born two of my girls get married, my son get married, so it’s given me time.
[00:15:16] In the last seven years, so much has happened with my kids that are celebrations that I’ve gotten to witness and be at, so..
[00:15:27] Adam Walker: That’s a blessing. Yeah.
[00:15:28] Winnie Marquart: Yeah, it is a blessing.
[00:15:30] Adam Walker: Well, let’s talk about your family a little bit more, if you don’t mind. So you- y- you mentioned them several times.
[00:15:36] I know they’re a really important part of your story. Talk, I mean, talk a little bit about their support and how this experience has sort of shaped your family.
[00:15:45] Winnie Marquart: We are always been a very close, close-knit family. My kids and me and my husband are very close. We talk all the time, and they are living their lives normally, like nothing is going to happen anymore, which I’m very grateful for.
[00:16:10] It was hard during the chemo, just making them feel hopeful. So I had to have a smile on my face. I had to say I’m great.” I had a awesome friend in Virginia Beach who went with me to all of my chemo treatments, ’cause the kids… Well, one time my girls came in, two of my girls came in and sat through treatment with me.
[00:16:35] But I’m also the one that, “I don’t sit there and stare at me while I have an IV in my arm.” Right. Right. Right. “Just go ahead, go to lunch, go do something.”
[00:16:45] Adam Walker: Yeah. Go do your thing. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:16:47] Winnie Marquart: But they were great. I mean they sent me cookies and things after every treatment that said week one on them, and all through the whole thing, flowers and food and all of that kept coming.
[00:17:05] And then when I hit my last treatment, it was like the delivery and Uber Eats were at my door every five minutes sending me things as congratulations that you’re done. It is. They’re great kids. They’re strong and their strength helps me.
[00:17:25] Adam Walker: Yeah.
[00:17:26] So. That’s beautiful. Now I understa- speaking of the, the treatments, Yeah
[00:17:31] I understand that you wore a different beat breast cancer shirt to each of the treatments. So, so I gotta know, like, what’s behind that tradition? Like, describe these shirts to me, and how many- … did you have? Like those are just the, the first few questions that come to mind. I might have more.
[00:17:47] Winnie Marquart: Well, I I wanted to keep my kids up to date on how I was doing and they knew I would have a can- a treatment that day. So I went online and bought all these funny breast cancer T-shirts that’s not something that I would thought I would ever hear someone say, “I bought funny breast cancer T-shirts.”
[00:18:12] Adam Walker: I love this. Please continue. Okay.
[00:18:14] Winnie Marquart: They had hope so I would take a picture of me with my T-shirt before each treatment and send it to them, which they w- they were all about strength and hope and beating cancer. And some were funny, some just had funny pictures on them. And I I don’t know why, but I thought that would be a good way to keep my kids happy and strong and knowing that I’m doing great, and I’m not unraveling, and I’m not sad or scared.
[00:18:52] So I didn’t want them to be sad or scared.
[00:18:54] Adam Walker: I love… I mean, so, so what kind of reactions did you get when you went to treatment wearing these shirts? Like, I mean, what, like, gi- give me the, you
[00:19:02] Winnie Marquart: know- I’d come in and they go, “Oh, love that shirt,” That’s great.” Yeah. And then when I would take a picture, they’re all looking at me like.
[00:19:10] There’s one with lady on it with a bandana, pink bandana, that would say Women strong,” and so I went did the muscles and, and it just was just trying to tell them that I’m strong, I’m gonna beat this. This is, And then I’ve got a collage of all my pictures that I sent to my kids.
[00:19:40] And the last one said, “Winnie three,” w- sort of a beat cancer, “Winnie three, cancer zero.” And..
[00:19:51] Adam Walker: I love that. Oh my gosh. I… like, the, the sense of humor required to do that makes me just think you must be an, just some, one of the most amazing human beings. I just… That’s so great. That’s so great.
[00:20:03] Like, oh my gosh. Okay, so.
[00:20:06] Winnie Marquart: But it helped. I mean, I think it helped. If you ask them, they they would text me back immediately after I sent it to them and, it was also just a way to keep the communication going so they didn’t think anything was wrong, because that’s the big thing.
[00:20:23] If you don’t call them and tell them that you’re all right, they start thinking bad thoughts, and I don’t, didn’t want that to happen. I wanted them to be happy.
[00:20:33] Adam Walker: Well, it, and I would imagine, too, that, like if you’re gonna be texting them on days of your treatment, right? Like, there’s kind of two…
[00:20:41] or, well, there’s probably several approaches but one approach is your approach, which is, like, make it funny or fun or interesting or engaging and, like, have a positive interaction, and the other is, like, after your treatment they’re texting you, like, “How are you feeling?” And that’s probably gonna be a more negative interaction, right?
[00:20:55] And so it s- it strikes me that you sort of chose the positive side and sort of put that slant on it. I mean, is that, was that sort of an intentional choice?
[00:21:04] Winnie Marquart: That was intentional and nowadays they have so many extra other drugs that they will give you to counteract the side effects that I I felt okay.
[00:21:16] I mean, I w- I’m I guess everyone says I have a high pain tolerance but I was fine. I would rest when I got home, but it wasn’t as bad as the first chemo. So this one was better.
[00:21:34] Adam Walker: Yeah. Well, I mean, l- well, let’s talk about, let, let’s talk about that, ’cause I mean you, y- you mentioned earlier that some of the drugs that you were on are due to Komen’s research and there’s been vast advancements in those drugs over the, your experience with breast cancer.
[00:21:48] So let’s, so, so Komen invests in research that helps advance new treatments for people living with breast cancer. So how important has research been to your journey and to your hope for the future?
[00:22:02] Winnie Marquart: Well, my oncologist is goes to all these meetings that are… talk about the new drugs that are coming out for breast cancer and what is in the future.
[00:22:13] So he kept me very positive about, I guess, how far advanced the treatments for breast cancer are getting, and that my breast cancer is also easier to treat than some others, which was in, in my favor. And we just have to keep funding these programs. And I they’re close, I mean, to– I mean, they’re helping me stay alive, and soon, hopefully they’ll help people not get a recurrence like I have it’s so important. And the Komen Foundation does so much, and I’m so grateful to them for everything that they have done for me.
[00:23:05] Adam Walker: Yeah. I mean I mean, just in the, the years that I’ve hosted this podcast, the advancements of the, the research and the science and I mean, it’s just been astounding to see and just getting the opportunity to speak with people like you that have been so impacted by it, it’s just really– it’s been very meaningful.
[00:23:22] So I appreciate that. Now I also understand that you’ve been involved with the More Than Pink Walk. I me- you know, I mentioned that in the intro. Tell me a little bit about, like, why. What does Komen mean to you, and why do you continue to be involved?
[00:23:36] Winnie Marquart: Well, first they asked me to be part of the walk, and I haven’t told my story, because I just…
[00:23:45] I don’t know. I’m a very private person. But it came at a moment where I felt that, like, it was time that I was at the point to give hope to other people with metastatic breast cancer, and that I hope f- that hopefully my journey will help other people be strong and have hope.
[00:24:12] The walk, hopefully I’ll make the three miles, I don’t know, but I’m gonna walk. My f- part of my family’s gonna be there. And Wisconsin is where I was born. It’s my, it’s my home away from home, and I… people know me in the area, and I just hope that they read my story, hear my story, and are uplifted by it.
[00:24:43] Adam Walker: I hope so, too. And I think they will be. I don’t see how they could not be, honestly.
[00:24:47] Winnie Marquart: Yeah. And the, the Komen Foundation has always w- been near and dear to my heart, and they do such great works that I couldn’t not say no when they asked me. And everything that they do with the research funding, they also help with costs for mammograms.
[00:25:12] I mean, if I hadn’t had the ability to get a mammogram at 39, you don’t know where I would be now, and that is important. I mean, people without insurance or people that are young like me aren’t able to get an early mammogram. I mean, my girls, who are now at the age, they started getting their mammograms and ultrasounds at 29.
[00:25:41] But because we, I have good insurance, they’re a- allowed to do that. They’re able to do that. And the Komen Foundation is doing so much to help those people that can’t get the mammograms, which would prevent the disease or help them stop the disease at a critical moment.
[00:26:01] Adam Walker: Yeah. Yeah, I love that. Love the it’s amazing work.
[00:26:05] It really is amazing work. Well, la- last question. L- looking at everything we’ve talked about, af- after everything you’ve experienced what do you hope people take away from hearing your story today?
[00:26:18] Winnie Marquart: Well, y- hope is the main thing, is that there is hope in the future for people who have just started their journey with cancer, that there’s hope for people living with metastatic breast cancer, and just the knowledge that things are- evolving with breast cancer treatments, and that they know that in the future that more drugs, more scannings, better access to mammograms is in the future.
[00:27:00] Especially there’s survivors out there, but they’re worried about their kids too. I mean, so that it sh- should give them hope that their kids, if they ever, God forbid, get the disease that there’s things that they can do, and there’s preventatives, so.
[00:27:23] Adam Walker: It’s advancing. It’s getting better, and we’re gaining ground.
[00:27:26] It’s not where we wanna be, but we’re getting there, right?
[00:27:29] Winnie Marquart: Yeah. With everybody’s help, with the S- the Komen Foundation, they know that this is a good thing. It’s it’s helping all of us.
[00:27:41] Adam Walker: That’s right. That’s right. It is. It’s helping all of us. It’s doing amazing work. Winnie your story is it’s hopeful.
[00:27:49] It really is. It I feel hope in talking to you, and and I’m in- inspired as well. Really appreciate you sharing it with us today. Just thank thank you for joining us on the show today. It’s been a pleasure.
[00:28:02] Winnie Marquart: Well, thank you very much. It was my pleasure.
[00:28:11] Adam Walker: Thanks for listening to Real Pink, a weekly podcast by Susan G. Komen. For more episodes, visit realpink.komen.org, and for more on breast cancer, visit komen.org. Make sure to check out @susangkomen on social media. I’m your host, Adam. You can find me on Twitter @ajwalker or on my blog, adamjwalker.com.